The traditional preparation process for devices on a plant floor is typically a time-consuming, arduous process. Generally, the process generally begins with a user inspecting a list of the physical devices presented in a computer user interface, and correlating each physical instrument to a device in the database. Typically, the user performs this correlation by manually examining the database for a matching entry for each physical device. After each physical instrument has been correlated, the user manually sets a name tag and a network address for each and every device. In order to set the name tag, the user inputs a name tag change via the user interface, and then waits while the computer issues the appropriate commands to set the name tag and while the physical instrument processes the name tag. In order to set the network address, the user inputs a network address for the physical device via the user interface, and then once again waits while the computer issues commands to set the network address and the device sets the network address. The user next must determine whether the device should be a link schedule master, and if so, the user configures those settings and the computer transmits those settings to the device. The user then utilizes the user interface to command instantiation of any block types in the device.
In other words, the steps required in a traditional device preparation process are executed primarily in sequence and may take 15-20 minutes of setup time per device, if not more. Furthermore, since much of the process must be manually completed, the user must physically move from device to device to complete the device setup. On a big plant floor with several thousand devices, it may take several man-months or even several man-years to prepare all the devices. Errors and mis-configurations can easily make the process more complicated and result in a doubling or tripling of the time required to prepare all the devices.